Health Canada is warning medicinal marijuana users and growers, licensed under an outgoing law, that if they don’t destroy and dispose of their pot before new regulations take full effect April 1 the police will be notified.

The department is asking those licensed under the old program to fill out a form declaring they no longer have any cannabis obtained under the outgoing Marihuana Medical Access Regulations (MMAR). They’ll have until April 30 to respond. Those who don’t comply with the directive risk having the police show up at their door.

That’s a risk one Fort Erie grower says he will have to take. William, who asked that his real name not be used, suffers from a number of ailments and says Health Canada is “going after sick people.”

“The department will take compliance and enforcement action,” reads Health Canada memo posted on the federal agency’s website and being mailed to more than 40,000 users and growers licensed under the old program. “This includes informing law enforcement of your failure to notify Health Canada. . . . In addition, the department will continue to co-operate with police, and provide information needed to protect public safety.”

Health Canada is relying on people to be truthful about their pot disposal. So, if users fill out the form stating they have complied, there will be no verification.

Staff Inspector Randy Franks of the Toronto Drug Squad anticipates police across Canada will be notified sometime after April 30 about those who didn’t comply. He expects law enforcement will be provided with names, addresses, the number of plants people were allowed to grow and what amount of marijuana they were entitled to possess. Currently, police aren’t entitled to that kind of personal information, unless the individual has been part of an investigation.

Although police will wait for Health Canada to give them information about those not in compliance, Franks says immediate enforcement action will be taken if police receive complaints.

“If there’s a (grow-op) in an apartment or a multi-unit dwelling and a neighbour complains about a grow, then we’re going to take enforcement action sooner,” he told the Star. “We may well be taking action (April 1).”

Defence lawyer Paul Lewin, who’s worked on many cases involving marijuana offences, says “it is unconstitutional for the health care branch of government to give health records over to the law enforcement branch of government.”

The government is overhauling its medical marijuana program by outlawing personal production and forcing users to buy their cannabis from authorized commercial growers. It says the new law being phased in — the Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR) — prevents marijuana from being diverted to the black market and will put an end to unsafe grow ops and protect growers from being robbed.

But many medicinal users, who can grow their own marijuana for as little as $1 a gram, fear they won’t be able to afford the market price, which is expected to cost between $3 and $12 a gram.

Their concerns are playing out in a B.C federal court, where patients who want to keep growing their own cannabis because they can’t afford commercial costs have filed a motion seeking an injunction. On Tuesday, a judge will hear arguments from both the Crown and lawyer John Conroy, who represents the patients.

Conroy argues part of the new regulations are unconstitutional because some patients will be forced to choose between breaking the law to grow their own medication, or go without a medicine that’s been approved for them by a physician.

“We have to convince the court that these folks will suffer irreparable harm if an injunction or exemption, pending trial, isn’t granted,” Conroy told the Star. “We’re not trying to prevent the (MMPR) from being in effect, we’re simply saying it’s constitutionally defective in certain aspects.”

If an injunction is not granted and personal production is outlawed beginning April 1, William said he’ll “absolutely” continue to grow his own medicine.

William suffers from conditions such as osteoarthritis and Graves’ disease and consumes between 12 and 20 grams a day.

“It’s cheaper to plant a seed than buy corporate weed,” said the cook who’s on a limited income. (It costs him about $1.50 to grow a gram.)

Furthermore, he’s invested about $8,000 into making his basement grow op safe and has perfected growing strains tailored for his ailments. Plus, he says harvesting his own plants — he currently has about 25 — is therapeutic.

Asking sick patients to toss out good medicine that they grew themselves is akin to telling people to dump everything in their refrigerator, he said.

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